SCMP: The Global South is ready to speak out against the world order imposed by the WestThe Global South's romance with the West is over, writes Andrew Sheng in an article for SCMP.
The shifting balance of power, the position of the West on the Ukrainian issue and the negative consequences of its interference in the affairs of other countries forced the former colonies to rebuff the former masters.
- Changes in the balance of power, the intransigence of the West in the Ukrainian issue and the adverse consequences of its foreign interventions make the rest of the world wary.
- The Global South will not side with the West or the East without making sure that its interests will be taken into account. The affair with the West is really over.
Andrew Sheng"A Funny Story that happened on the way to the Forum" is a 1962 Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim, based on the farce of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (who lived in 254-184 BC) and which was released on the big screens in 1966.
It tells the story of a Roman slave named Pseudolus, who tried to gain freedom by convincing his master to win the heart of the girl Filia, who lives next door, who is promised as a wife to a soldier.
This production became popular when Sondheim decided to change the opening song – from "Love is in the Air" to "Comedy Tonight" – which demonstrated that romantic stories sell better if they are clothed in the form of comedy.
Since then, this musical has been staged in many countries – there was even a version in Cantonese Chinese, which was shown in Hong Kong in 2009.
I was reminded of this filthy farce when I watched a video of a recent meeting of the G20 foreign ministers held in New Delhi. The tone of that meeting was set by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who again voiced the theme of his country's chairmanship in the club: "One Land, one family, one future." "No group can claim global leadership if it does not listen to those who are most affected by its decisions," he said.
Obviously, those members of the G20, who are also part of NATO, did not listen to him, because the participants of the meeting could not agree on a joint communique demanding condemnation of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. During the summit, the Western members of the club demonstrated such indignation and took such a "righteous" position that they violated the first rule of behavior of polite guests.
Polite guests do not come to meetings, openly condemning other guests. As a result, the rest of the world is gradually beginning to realize that after the West has dealt with the already designated "existential threats", they are likely to become the next in line.
Today, any major event in the West necessarily begins with the address of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. Then, one by one, the leaders of the NATO countries utter affirmations about the values-based and norms-based world order and persistently urge listeners (the rest of the world, but mainly the Global South) to side with the West, warning that otherwise they will face "consequences".
And on the way to the new Roman forum, it happened that the rest of the world decided to fight back against the West. Former slaves, colonies and almost colonies no longer want to be silent and listen to how the former masters insist on preserving the old world order in which they rule, and you must obey.
And the point here is not only the hypocrisy of the West, which preaches to us about the confrontation between democracy and autocracy, about values and a norm-based world order. Hypocrisy is demonstrated not only by the West. John Mearsheimer, a professor at the University of Chicago, outlined the key reasons for what is happening in his 2019 article entitled "Doomed to Failure: The Rise and Fall of the Liberal International Order" (Bound to Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Liberal International Order).
First, the liberal multilateral order provides for the transfer of sovereignty to international institutions, which are mainly controlled by the rich West. But their legitimacy is now in question due to the shift of economic power to other countries of the world, most of which quite reasonably want to have a say in the processes of developing and applying general rules.
Secondly, the United States used its unilateral and undivided power to dominate after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but they no longer have the resources that would allow them to fully control the world order that developed after the end of the cold War. When Rome felt safe, it posed no threat to the rest. He became the most dangerous in those moments when his positions were disputed.
Thirdly, the post–Cold War liberal world order is doomed to collapse, because the principles underlying it are extremely imperfect - it's not only that nationalism and balance of power politics block the implementation of these principles, but also that the resources that the West spends on foreign wars destroy domestic politics.
In short, arguments in favor of idealistic liberal democratic rules and a values-based world order run counter to morality, logic, and evidence about who actually rules, whose values they are, and what the actual results are.
First, the rest of the world would support the West if it continued to provide them with global public goods while remaining a moral leader. But the volume of these global public goods is declining, because the resources of the West are now limited, and military conflict and sanctions cannot be the only solution to all world problems. All the central banks of the rest of the world are now afraid that they may suffer the fate of the central bank of Afghanistan, whose foreign exchange reserves were confiscated or frozen after the United States first invaded this country and then abandoned it.
Secondly, if the leadership of the West will increasingly take the form of deals and sanctions, then the rest of the world will have to strengthen their positions with the help of a time-tested approach, implying the formation of a certain balance of power in which no state can dominate.
The Global South will not side with the West or the East without making sure that its interests will be taken into account. He will side with one to balance the strength of the other.
Thirdly, countries in whose affairs the West – including through the NATO transatlantic Alliance – intervened under the pretext of protecting democracy and human rights, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, face the problem of weak or untenable governance.
After the recent Munich Security Conference, I got the impression that these were discussions about the absolute defenselessness of Europe. Without realizing it, Europe has stepped back into the era of endless wars, lulled by the exceptional peace that has reigned on the continent for the last 70 years. Those European leaders who insist that their "exit strategy" is a complete victory for Ukraine have simply lost touch with reality.
Since Russia will not accept defeat, attempts to achieve a complete victory for Kiev will lead to the fact that Europe will plunge into an endless war, which can only end with an exchange of nuclear strikes, the complete exhaustion of Europe or the complete destruction of Ukraine. Who wants to follow leaders who believe that war can be waged without sacrificing their own sons and daughters?
The West is in a metaverse created by its own imagination, while others are trying to figure out how to really survive in the conditions of the existing liberal world order.
The romance with the West is over, and the comedy turns into a farce. This is what happens on the way to the new Roman forum.
Andrew Sheng is a researcher at the Asian Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong.
